6. TV Anchor Stands Up to Bully

As a news anchor in the small Wisconsin town of LaCross, Jennifer Livingston was used to being in the public eye and receiving feedback from viewers. But when one negative message hit a little too personally, she took it upon herself to deliver an on-air takedown of her bully. The viewer, later outed as a local lawyer, had said it was Livingston’s “community responsibility” to “promote a healthy lifestyle.” Livingston wasn’t concerned with the man’s critique of her weight — “Do you think I don’t know that?” she railed — but with the impact his comments could have on the area’s youth. “That man’s words mean nothing to me,” she said. “But this behavior is learned — it is passed down from people like the man who wrote me that e-mail.” Meanwhile, the empowerment she simply hoped to share with her viewers spread across the nation.